History of Piano Building w/ Del Fandrich

History of Piano Building w/ Del Fandrich

Make sure to get in on our latest masterclass covering Action Geometry with Dean Reyburn. Join us Thursday April 18 at 3pm Pacific or 6pm Eastern Time. Visit https://bit.ly/pianoaction to register!

In today’s episode, Del Fandrich, a consultant for various piano manufacturers across the world, uses the first principle of thinning to aid his designing process. Del talks about hybrid scales to help the short piano scales and their various applications. He delves into string lengths, tensile strength, and sounds. 

Del is also working on compiling the book “Piano Tone Rebuilding” from three generations ago and making it readable again. He has added additional chapters in the book to address some of its misinformation. This can help trace the history of the piano building and Del shares some of his insights about that and the journey of the industry at large. 

Tune into this lecture to hear about the historical and technical journey of the piano industry.

Here’s a little bit about our guest Del Fandrich:

Since 1960, Del Fandrich has evolved from a basic service technician to an independent rebuilder, manufacturer, and design consultant. He served as the Director of R&D with Baldwin and has consulted with brands like Charles Walter and Young Chang. Most recently he has been working with John Martin of Wertheim Piano to develop a totally new vertical piano. He has authored numerous papers on topics ranging from basic piano technology to advanced concepts in design and manufacturing. He continues to lecture globally as one of the most forward-thinking minds in the piano industry, maintaining several active research projects in his workshop in Olympia, WA.

𝐉𝐎𝐈𝐍 𝐔𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐎𝐑𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓❗❗

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Make sure to get in on our latest masterclass covering Action Geometry with Dean Reyburn. Join us Thursday April 18 at 3pm Pacific or 6pm Eastern Time. Visit https://bit.ly/pianoaction to register!

Creators and Guests

David Andersen
Host
David Andersen
David Andersen, owner of David Andersen pianos in Los Angeles has been a professional musician, recording artist, and piano technician/consultant for nearly four decades. He has overseen the restoration and maintenance of hundreds of Steinway and Mason & Hamlin pianos during that time. Beginning in 1975 he apprenticed for two and a half years under Jack Cofer in Atlanta, Georgia; during the 1980s he studied at Steinway facilities both in New York and London.
Eathan Janney
Host
Eathan Janney
Eathan has 20 years of experience as a piano technician. He studied with Dave Miller, the staff piano technician for the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, New Jersey. Dave Carpenter, the inventor of the Verituner electronic tuning device, provided mentorship for Eathan in Chicago. Eathan also worked with Ken Eschete and Bill Schwarts, the staff piano technicians at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 2009, he founded Floating Piano Factory of New York, a company that allows piano technicians to move from Apprentice to Craftsman level while offering value pricing to clients as technicians progress toward mastery. In 2017 he founded Piano Technicians Masterclasses, an online project designed to offer cutting-edge instruction from piano industry masters to anyone on the globe with an internet connection.
person
Guest
Del Fandrich
Since 1960, Del Fandrich has evolved from a basic service technician to an independent rebuilder, manufacturer, and design consultant. He served as the Director of R&D with Baldwin and has consulted with brands like Charles Walter and Young Chang. Most recently he has been working with John Martin of Wertheim Piano to develop a totally new vertical piano. He has authored numerous papers on topics ranging from basic piano technology to advanced concepts in design and manufacturing. He continues to lecture globally as one of the most forward-thinking minds in the piano industry, maintaining several active research projects in his workshop in Olympia, WA.
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